Back to the basics, Giants defense hopes to stay strong with season on the line

US PRESSWIREThe Giants secondary will continue keeping it simple after a strong performance against the Jets.

After weeks of confused defensive backs allowing receivers to run free through the secondary, the Giants’ cornerbacks and safeties knew what they were doing against the Jets, and it showed.

They got their hands on eight passes (six knocked away and two intercepted), held Mark Sanchez to only 258 yards passing (a small number considering he threw the ball 59 times for an average of only 4.4 yards per attempt) and forced Sanchez to hold the ball on a few sacks.

“He went back to the old ways. He solidified: ‘Regardless of they give us A, B, C or D, this is what we’re doing,’ ” safety Deon Grant said on Monday. “Before, trying to protect certain people or whatever the case may be, we had a different call for A, a different call for B and so on.

“Guys mentally were faster with it (against the Jets). That’s the way it was last year and in the beginning of the season this year.”

Now, the question is, will it remain that way?

On Sunday, the Giants face the Cowboys in what’s basically a one-game playoff to get into the playoffs. The winner will be the NFC East champion, which sounds encouraging for the Giants, considering they just beat Dallas three weeks ago.

Of course, that victory easily could’ve been a loss because of a leaky Giants secondary that allowed Dez Bryant (50-yard touchdown) and Laurent Robinson (74-yard reception) to run free up the field. It was a rookie mistake by Prince Amukamara that let Robinson get free, but five days after Bryant high-stepped into the end zone and channeled his inner Victor Cruz with a salsa dance, veterans Corey Webster and Antrel Rolle were still debating who was right and who was wrong in the blown coverage on that play.

All of those issues, as well as assignment problems against the Green Bay Packers, led to Fewell simplifying things. Suddenly, it was the offense that looked confused and the Giants’ defensive backs who were sure of themselves.

Which is a good thing for them heading into a rematch with Tony Romo’s bruised hand and his targets, who connected to catch 21 passes for 321 yards and four touchdowns against the Giants on Dec. 11.

“We’re extremely confident in our group,” Rolle said, “and we’ve proven to ourselves last week what kind of defense we can be if we put our minds together and practice hard throughout the week.”

Fewell generated those good vibes in practice and meetings with his simplified (or as Grant put it, “solidified”) plan. The odds are, given the results and the rebuilt confidence of his secondary, he won’t change much this week.

“I don’t think there’s going to be any of that anymore,” Grant said of the checks that led to confusion.

Okay, but this is a complex league. And if you haven’t noticed, there are some pretty good quarterbacks standing in the way of any Super Bowl aspirations the Giants might have. Keeping it simple against Sanchez is one thing; doing it against Romo, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees is quite different, right?

“But when you have it the way he had it, we still were tricking the offense,” Grant said, meaning the defense disguised what it was doing individually, not as a disjointed group. “We were able to play with the quarterback and all that stuff, but it was within the defense.”

Perhaps no one benefited more than Grant. At this point in his 12-year career, the 32-year-old former second-round pick uses smarts to get in better position to make a play. If those around him aren’t comfortable, he’s not comfortable and can’t make adjustments. It’s part of the reason he has been limited to only one interception and six passes broken up this season.

However, four of those six pass breakups have come against the Jets and New England Patriots — the two games with the most “solidified” game plans.

“Yeah, and that was all about disguising and getting back to my leverage,” said Grant, who nearly had an interception early in the third quarter of Saturday’s game. “It was just about playing the ball.”